page_title: Anzac-class frigate
section_title: Planning and development
hierarchical_section_title: Anzac-class frigate / Planning and development
caption_attribution_description: English: Portuguese ship NRP Corte Real (F 332) participates in a pass and review during the North Atlantic Council at Sea Day with Nimitz class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) July 13, 2009, in the Atlantic Ocean. The Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group is operating in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of responsibility after a regularly scheduled five-month deployment in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations.
context_page_description: The Anzac class is a ship class of ten frigates; eight operated by the Royal Australian Navy and two operated by the Royal New Zealand Navy. During the 1980s, the RAN began plans to replace the River-class destroyer escorts with a mid-capability patrol frigate, and settled on the idea of modifying a proven foreign design for Australian conditions. Around the same time, the RNZN was seeking to replace their Leander-class frigates while maintaining blue-water capabilities. A souring of relations between New Zealand and the United States of America in relation to New Zealand's nuclear-free zone and the ANZUS security treaty prompted New Zealand to seek improved ties with other nations, particularly Australia. As both nations were seeking warships of similar capabilities, the decision was made in 1987 to collaborate on their acquisition. The project name is taken from the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps of the First World War.
  Twelve ship designs were tendered in 1986. By 1989, the project had selected a proposal by Germany's Blohm + Voss, based on their MEKO 200 design, to be built in Australia by AMECON at Williamstown, Victoria.
context_section_description: The Anzac class originated from the RAN's New Surface Combatant (NSC) project, which began in the mid-1980s to find a replacement for the RAN's six River-class destroyer escorts. By 1985, various design briefs ranging from 1,200 to 5,000 tonnes (1,200 to 4,900 long tons) displacement were under consideration, with the RAN emphasising anti-ship missile defence, damage control, and ship survivability based on Royal Navy experiences during the Falklands War. Eventually, the project settled on a ship of approximately 3,600 tonnes (3,500 long tons) displacement. At this time, it was also believed that Australia did not have the capability to design a major warship from scratch, so the decision was made to select a proven foreign design and fit it with an Australian-developed combat system. In early 1986, a review of policy regarding surface combatants saw the NSC classified into the middle of three tiers: a patrol frigate designed to operate on low- to mid-intensity operations in Australia's Economic Exclusion Zone.
  Around the same time, the need to replace the RNZN's Leander-class frigate force with new warships was under consideration. The government saw maintaining a blue-water capable force built around three or four frigates as important, but the cost of acquiring and maintaining such a force was prohibitive, once it became clear on the basis of RN & RAN studies that the generally favored Type 21 design, lacked the space and volume for the required range & development,  and a joint Anzac project offered the RNZN the first chance in 20 years, something like new deepwater warships. The NZ 1983 Defence Review on the basis of RN theoretical study and enthusiasm for the 2400 Vicker sub project, saw a submarine force as the only way of maintaining a RNZN as a combat force, and the Muldoon government actually entered into a memo of understanding with Australia for the joint development of what became the Collins submarines and assigned staff to the Australian project, however it became clear that surface vessels were also required and the cost risk was too high. Alternate suggestions, such as reducing the RNZN to a coast guard-type force responsible for coastal and fisheries protection, replacing the frigates with smaller offshore patrol vessels, or reorienting the navy to primarily operate submarines, were made in several venues, but were seen as unacceptable loss in capability. Around the same time, the 1984-elected Fourth Labour Government of New Zealand implemented a nuclear-free zone, which incensed the United States of America and led to a deterioration of relations between the two nations, including the American withdrawal of support for New Zealand under the ANZUS security treaty. In response, the New Zealand government sought to improve ties with Australia; one such avenue was to promote military interoperability between the countries by standardising equipment and procedures where possible. The Australian NSC project was seen to have "virtually identical" requirements to the RNZN's proposed Replacement Combat Ship concept, and the need to replace the warships dovetailed with the need to improve relations with Australia.
  On 6 March 1987, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the two nations and RNZN representatives were invited to collaborate on the project. To recognise their involvement, the project was renamed the Anzac Ship Project, taking the name from the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps of World War I. The New Zealanders' involvement was structured to allow their involvement in the selection of the design and shipyard and explore options for New Zealand industry involvement: when the time came to commit, they could either continue cooperating into the construction stage of the project, independently order the ships from the designer, or abandon the project entirely.
  The proposed baseline characteristics called for a vessel capable of reaching speeds of 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph) and a range of 6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) based on a Combined diesel or gas (C
caption: The Portuguese frigate NRP Corte Real. The MEKO 200 variant designed for the Portuguese was the basis of Blohm + Voss and AMECON's successful proposal.
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